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Breakthru Activating Leaders since 2020

Today, we’re remembering Dolly Parton not just for the music she gave the world, but for the way she led.In our book, Le...
08/26/2026

Today, we’re remembering Dolly Parton not just for the music she gave the world, but for the way she led.

In our book, Leadership Types, we named Dolly as an example of an Ignitor—a leader who brings energy, optimism, and possibility into the spaces around them.

That description feels especially meaningful today.

Her leadership was never limited to a stage. It showed up in her generosity, her philanthropy, her commitment to education, and the unmistakable joy she brought to millions of people.

She reminded us that leadership does not have to be loud in the traditional sense to be powerful.

Sometimes leadership looks like creating hope.

Sometimes it looks like helping people believe in what is possible.

Sometimes it looks like using your success to make life better for someone else.

Dolly Parton did all three.

Her legacy is a beautiful reminder that the way we make people feel can be part of how we lead—and that positivity, generosity, and joy can create an impact that lasts far beyond us.

We’re grateful for the light she shared with the world.

☀️ Summer has a way of changing your vantage point.A different pace. A little more space. Maybe even enough distance fro...
08/07/2026

☀️ Summer has a way of changing your vantage point.

A different pace. A little more space. Maybe even enough distance from the day-to-day to notice something you’ve been missing:

How are you actually showing up as a leader?

What comes naturally to you?
What do people count on you for?
What strengths might you be overlooking because they don’t fit the traditional picture of leadership?

We spend a lot of time trying to become “better” leaders.

Maybe this summer is an opportunity to better recognize the leader you already are.

If that sounds like the kind of reflection you could use, add Leadership Types to your summer reading list. 📚🌴

Less “fix yourself.”
More “understand yourself—and lead from there.”

development

It was an honor to join Mayor Brandon Johnson at the Mayor’s Chicago Pride celebration this week at the beautiful Chicag...
06/25/2026

It was an honor to join Mayor Brandon Johnson at the Mayor’s Chicago Pride celebration this week at the beautiful Chicago Cultural Center, surrounded by so many people committed to building a city where everyone can belong.

Pride is a celebration of love, community, and the generations of advocates whose courage made gatherings like this possible.

The fight for equality continues, but we hopeful for what we are continuing to build together.

Happy Pride, Chicago. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Pride is a celebration.A celebration of authenticity, courage, community, and of the people who have dared to live, love...
06/03/2026

Pride is a celebration.

A celebration of authenticity, courage, community, and of the people who have dared to live, love, and lead as their full selves.

At BREAKTHRU, we’re proud to be an LGBTQIA+-owned business, and we believe leadership expands when people no longer have to choose between belonging and being themselves.

This Pride Month, we honor the LGBTQIA+ leaders, activists, advocates, artists, and everyday changemakers who have challenged the status quo and helped create a world where more people can live openly, authentically, and safely.

Their leadership reminds us that progress is rarely inevitable. It is built by people who imagine something better and invite others to help create it.

As we celebrate Pride, we also reaffirm our commitment to building leadership frameworks, workplaces, and communities where people are seen, valued, and empowered to bring their full identities to the table.

Today and every day, we celebrate the power of identity, the strength of community, and the freedom to be fully seen.

Happy Pride. 🌈

🌈

What an incredible experience speaking at the Align Summit — the premier educational summit for leaders across the yout...
05/13/2026

What an incredible experience speaking at the Align Summit — the premier educational summit for leaders across the youth volleyball industry. 🏐

Excited to see how our workshop on unlocking the power of your Leadership Type will help these Visionaries, Trailblazers, and Connectors shape not just athletes, but future generations of leaders.

Because the environments coaches and sports leaders create impact so much more than performance. They shape confidence, identity, belonging and resilience.

At BREAKTHRU, we believe leadership isn’t one-size-fits-all — and the conversations at Align reinforced just how important it is to expand the ways we recognize and activate leadership in others.

And as women’s sports fans, being in Dallas while seeing the city celebrate Azzi Fudd and the Dallas Wings everywhere was such a powerful reminder of this moment in women’s sports. The visibility, investment, and energy surrounding women athletes right now feels different — and deeply earned. 💫

So grateful to and the JVA team for creating spaces where leadership, learning, and the future of sports can evolve together.

What a privilege and pleasure it was to spend the day as a volunteer corporate leader with at Cultivate Chicago 2026!Th...
05/06/2026

What a privilege and pleasure it was to spend the day as a volunteer corporate leader with at Cultivate Chicago 2026!

The positivity and energy in the room, the conversations with students, and everyone’s willingness to show up and engage across generations were all so impactful.

Big kudos to Debra Giunta for your vision and leadership of Prismatic. Your unwavering belief in the power of young people is so inspiring.

Also a big shout out to —renowned Chicago historian and cultural storyteller — for an awesome keynote, and to the folks at for leading a very fun and eye-opening workshop on what it means to be human in a world, being overtaken by AI.

Leadership doesn’t always look like answers. Sometimes, it looks like an invitation.Recently, we visited Yoko Ono’s Musi...
03/24/2026

Leadership doesn’t always look like answers. Sometimes, it looks like an invitation.

Recently, we visited Yoko Ono’s Music of the Mind exhibit at the —and it felt less like observing art and more like participating in it.

✍️ Leave a message for others
🧩 Take a piece of the sky
♟️ Play chess where everyone shares the same pieces

What starts as an exhibit becomes something collective.

And that’s where the leadership lesson lives.

Yoko Ono’s work reminds us:
leadership doesn’t always begin with certainty—it begins with a shift in perspective.

Not control.
Not easy answers.
But invitation.

Because meaningful change doesn’t always start with a solution—
sometimes it starts with someone willing to reframe the question and invite others to build what doesn’t yet exist.

In moments that demand transformation, that kind of leadership matters most.

📩 Read more in this week’s We Are the Leaders newsletter by

Leadership often begins long before the world recognizes it.Yesterday, we had the opportunity to hear Tracy Baim—LGBTQIA...
03/12/2026

Leadership often begins long before the world recognizes it.

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to hear Tracy Baim—LGBTQIA+ journalist, historian, nonprofit leader, and advocate—speak at a Diversity & Inclusion event about the movement behind her book
📖 Liberating Healthcare: 50 Years of Resistance, Resilience, and Healing at Howard Brown Health.

She shared the story of how students, activists, and faculty physicians came together on Chicago’s South Side to build community-centered healthcare for LGBTQIA+ people—creating care where stigma once stood.

What began as a grassroots effort became a lifeline for marginalized communities and a powerful example of what leadership looks like when people refuse to accept exclusion as inevitable.

Through her journalism and historical work, Tracy has preserved the stories of the activists, providers, and patients who helped shape LGBTQIA+ healthcare in Chicago—ensuring these lessons are not lost.

In her book, she wrote a simple but powerful inscription:

“Keep hope alive.”

At BREAKTHRU, we believe leadership lives in people who challenge the status quo, protect the vulnerable, and build systems that reflect the dignity of every community.

Leaders like Tracy remind us what that looks like in action.

The future of leadership is bigger, more inclusive, and more dynamic than the models many of us were taught.On March 25,...
03/05/2026

The future of leadership is bigger, more inclusive, and more dynamic than the models many of us were taught.

On March 25, BREAKTHRU co-founder and alum, Laura Barnard, will be hosting a virtual workshop for the alumni community designed for leaders who have been overlooked, underestimated, or expected to fit traditional leadership molds.

Together we’ll explore the Spectrum of Leadership Empowerment® and the 12 Leadership Types—a research-driven framework that expands how we define leadership and highlights the unique value different perspectives bring to modern teams.

✨ All attendees will receive complimentary access to the BREAKTHRU Leadership Types Self-Assessment Quiz after the session.

If you’re a UChicago alum ready to rethink leadership and discover your leadership type, we’d love to see you there.

🔗 Register at alumniandfriends.uchicago.edu

Honored to attend the AIDS Foundation Chicago “World of Chocolate” fundraiser last night event last night 🍫❤️!We are pro...
03/01/2026

Honored to attend the AIDS Foundation Chicago “World of Chocolate” fundraiser last night event last night 🍫❤️!

We are proud to stand in support of and other Chicago-based organizations committed to our LGBTQIA+ community and doing the hard, necessary work of advocacy, shifting systems, and expanding care.

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